Tsodilo Resources Limited announced that it has completed its $1.7 million large diameter drilling and bulk sampling programme for 2017 at the Company's 100% owned BK16 kimberlite project in the Orapa Kimberlite Field (OKF) in Botswana. The programme was carried out on time and within budget, the Company said.

The programme focused on bulk sampling of the six-hectare BK16 kimberlite, one of the few untested kimberlites in the OKF. A small parcel of previously recovered diamonds from BK16 indicates that this kimberlite contains a high proportion of 'Type IIa' white diamonds all grading as D color with no or only faint levels of fluorescence.

During this period, 3,121 m of 24-inch LDD drilling was completed in 14 holes varying in depth from 123 -- 368 meters and samples were collected over 12-meter intersections.

In the next stage, Tsodilo will treat the bulk sampling material at its DMS plant near Letlhakane. This will include the 243 samples from the LDD programme, totaling some 2,008.9 tonnes, as well as up to 1,500 tonnes of a mixture of pre-1976 and 2000 historical tailings that were removed from the BK16 site and deposited next to the plant, before the PHD and LDD program started.

This stage of the evaluation program will define the grade and diamond content of the two main kimberlite phases, VK2 and VK3, of BK16 in support of an economic assessment. It will also provide a first pass valuation of the diamonds that will be recovered from these samples.

Chairman and CEO, James M. Bruchs commented, "There is still work to do on BK16 to assess its full potential but the work that Mike (Mike de Wit, President and COO) and his team in Botswana has accomplished is nothing short of being first-rate. The control of the LDD drilling program by the Company's geological team has resulted in a product that has an abundance of coarse chip material with fragments over 10 cm in length from some holes. From the day we were awarded the prospecting license the work has been has been non-stop. Tackling big projects like this, which would normally bet set aside for mid or major companies, is nothing new to us but it is always gratifying when we reach this level, our staff is to be commended".

Pic caption: The BK16 DMS treatment plant